Maxatawny supervisors, authority members continue sniping

At issue is the township's insistence on adding, removing members of the authority board.

Written by By Ed Oswald

Maxatawny Township, PA —

The Maxatawny Township supervisors struggled for nearly a half-hour to maintain order Wednesday night, when an ongoing dispute with the township's municipal authority again stalled normal business.

Authority members accused the supervisors of not being forthcoming and fought back against their effort to install resident and attorney David Sobotka on the authority's board to replace current member and Chairman Garrett Miller, whom the township claims is term-limited.

The supervisors also want to appoint one of their own to the authority to increase oversight, which would increase the authority members from five to seven, and have threatened to disband the authority should its board continue to resist. But the authority continues to fight the township.

Authority Vice Chairman Steve Wilson argued the township was incorrect in replacing Miller, disputing information in a certified letter from former Township Manager Justin Yaich that was required as part of a $2 million U.S. Department of Agriculture loan application for a planned water project in Bowers.

In the letter, Yaich listed the various authority members' terms, which under state statute are limited to five years. The letter says Miller's term expired Dec. 31. But Wilson and Miller dismissed that as "recollection."

Rebuffed on that assertion by township Secretary/treasurer Jerilyn Wehr and Solicitor Elizabeth Macgovern, Wilson pointed to meeting minutes from 2014 and 2015, which seemed to throw into question who might be term-limited, and whether any term expired Dec. 31.

Macgovern countered that under the state's authorities act at least one member's term expires at the end of each year, and that the township would continue to use Yaich's letter as a guide pending any investigation that suggests otherwise.

Wilson did not yield.

"I have the minutes here from the April (2014) meeting that show you are incorrect, madam," he told Macgovern. "These are the official meeting minutes."

For the next 10 minutes, the supervisors, Macgovern, Wilson and Miller argued about whether the meeting minutes were correct, the validity of the USDA letter, and whether or not a prior meeting's motion appointing Sobotka should stand. Macgovern asserted several times that the authority does not have the power to say who may serve on its board. She also said the motion to appoint Sobotka stands unless the supervisors reinvestigate and find solid evidence that the letter to the USDA was in error.

Wilson continued to argue on Miller's behalf, saying Sobotka's appointment "would be addressed" at the authority's Jan. 24 meeting.

"The township makes the decision," Macgovern shot back.

Visibly frustrated, supervisors Chairman Allen Leiby noted he was waiting for authority responses on the progress of the water project in Bowers, for which the USDA loan was intended; the status of the collection of nearly $70,000 in delinquent bills from township residents; and why the authority was generally being uncooperative, in some cases forcing the township to revert to Right to Know requests to get necessary information.

"All that's being looked at," Miller said.

After the meeting, Leiby said the bickering "is just not good for the township." Wilson and Miller left promptly after the meeting and were unavailable for comment.

The frustration spilled over to residents during public comment. Marty Yourkavich worried how the continuing controversy made the township look to outsiders, including Kutztown, which will soon partner with Maxatawny on tax collection following the illness and recent resignation of Kutztown tax collector Brenda Bailey. The supervisors approved that joint tax collection at the meeting.

"We got to look like a bunch of schmucks to them," Yourkavich said.

Yourkavich also asked if the township was giving any thought to "at least hiring a part-time township manager" to help it and the authority work together. Leiby and Wehr replied that there was neither available money nor any discussions to bring the position back without raising taxes.